I just heard about this facility and thought I'd give it a try, this
is a hard one I think! It concerns my great great grandfather, one
William Waterson. He served in the 4th Light Dragoons and rode in the
Charge Of The Light brigade, 25 October 1854. He was in possession of
the Crimean War Medal, with all four clasps, Turkish War Medal,
Sardinian War Medal plus Long Service And Good Conduct Medal(s). In
the book 'Honour The Light Brigade' by Lummis and Wynn it states :

The medals were formerly in the collection of Lt Col Sir Godfrey
Dalrymple White and were sold at Glendinings on 24 July 1946. In 1968
they were in a private collection in Pennsylvania USA. An impressed
Crimean Medal with four clasps was sold at Sotheby’s on 27 November
1928. The citation for the Sardinian War Medal stated: ‘Displayed very
gallant conduct at the action at Balaclava, in the Light Cavalry
charge, particularly in the retreat of the regiment after they had
sabred the artillerymen at their guns’

The question is obvious, and very simple : Where are the medals now?

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 18 Nov 2002 16:26 PST

Did William Waterson have a middle name (or initial)?  The name is
fairly common, so perhaps this information would assist in the search.

Also, what was his rank (or highest rank)?

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Clarification of Question by nick316-ga on 18 Nov 2002 16:43 PST

He had no middle name. His rank was Sergeant when he went to the
Crimea, promoted to Troop sergeant major on the day of the charge,
subsequently became Regimental Sergeant Major in 1858. Discharged 1868
at Canterbury, died of a heart attack in Cockspur Street London 7
February 1871.

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Clarification of Question by nick316-ga on 19 Nov 2002 13:49 PST

When I got home from work today I found an e-mail asking for
clarification on this difficult question. Anything I can supply, I
gladly will, although I think I've passed on everything I know that's
relevant. I have no desire to 'own' these medals, but to know where
they are and maybe sometime see them would be absolutely fantastic.

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Request for Question Clarification by nocky-ga on 28 Nov 2002 05:57 PST

Hi,
I would like some further clarification. Was this medal with the four
clasps only awarded to William Waterson? In this case, there would
only be one set like it. One the other hand, if others had also been
so awarded there may be any number of sets to seek out. As I
understand it, you are only interested in seeing them so if there are
a number out there, it may make the search easier.

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Request for Question Clarification by nocky-ga on 01 Dec 2002 03:01 PST

Dear Nick316-ga
Your question is interesting and challenging.  There were more than
200,000 Crimean War Medals awarded but I assume that you are
interested in the very ones that your great great grandfather had.
Incidentally, there was a little confusion in the wording of your
question since the Crimean Medal with four clasps is a single award
and the others that you mentioned are also individual awards. At any
rate, I think that I can provide you with a roadmap to follow in order
to find your ancestor's medals; however you will have to invest some
effort which I estimate could take from several weeks to several
months. Don't be discouraged since I think the guidelines will lead
you to the medals. Let me know if this will satisfy you and I will
provide it as an answer. Thanks

Dear Nick316-ga

Your question is a fascinating one and a real challenge.  I undertook
to answer it because I engaged in a similar search for myself several
years ago concerning British army personnel in the First World War.

At the outset, I want you to know that I will provide a roadmap by
which to reach the answer; however, it will entail some effort on your
part that may take some time. This is normal for this kind of search
as I learned from my own experience. Essentially, finding an answer to
your question is like panning for gold - the nuggets are there but you
have to make sure you are in the correct river. I think the
information that I provide will put you in the correct
place(s) to get the answer. Incidentally, the wording of your question
was a little misleading because it mentioned four medals in addition
to the Crimean War Medal and I thought that they were the four clasps.
However, I found very nice pictures and descriptions of the medals and
discussions at the following internet locations.

http://www.batteryb.com/Crimean_War/crimean_medal 
http://www.hargreave-mawson.demon.co.uk/cwrs2  
http://www.btinternet.com/~james.mckay/crimedal. 

At the second internet site it is noted that "The Crimean War Medal
was sanctioned on the 15th December 1854 by order of Queen Victoria.
Two clasps were also authorised at this time, for the battles of Alma
(20th September 1854) and Inkermann (5th November 1854). The clasp for
the battle of Balaklava (which took place before that of Inkermann, on
25th October 1854) was not authorised until 23rd February 1855. The
clasp for the fall of Sebastopol (9th September 1855) was granted on
13th October 1855. A clasp was also awarded to the Royal Navy and
Royal Marines for actions in the Sea of Azoff (25th May - 22nd
September 1855), being announced in the "London Gazette" of 2nd May
1856. The clasps are worn in date order, with the clasp for Alma being
closest to the medal."

From this information, I deduced that you are looking for the
particular set of five medals that your great-great grandfather was
awarded

I don't want to keep you in suspense but I would like to describe to
you some of the steps that I took so that you will have confidence in
the direction in which the roadmap will lead you.

First I contacted Sotheby's but they could offer no help.

I contacted the archives at the Imperial War Museum in London.  The
archivist is Paul Sargent ( psargent@iwm.org.uk). He responded by
informing me that IWM only deals with the First World War and later
wars. He suggested that I contact the National Army Museum at
http://www.national-army-museum.ac.uk/

I received a reply to my request from 
Mrs. L. Smurthwaite, ismurthwaite@national-army-museum.ac.uk 
Curator, Department of Uniforms, Badges and Medals

Mrs. Smurthwaite responded that although they have no records of the
whereabouts of the medals awarded to William Waterson, she suggested
that I contact the regimental museum of the Queen's Royal Irish
Hussars, who are the descendents of the 4th Light Dragoons. Their
address is Sussex Combined Services Museum. Redoubt Fortress, Royal
Parade, Eastbourne, Sussex, BN22 7AQ
http://www.eastbournemuseums.co.uk/redoubt/qrihtree.

That did not lead to any results. However, Mrs. Smurthwaite also
suggested that I contact the magazine Medal News at
www.tokenpublishing.com  I also noted that at the internet site of the
National Army Museum it is mentioned that The Medal Yearbook is edited
by James Mackay and published annually by Token Publishing.  More
interesting, the Token Publishing internet site also mentions that
they publish Medal News which is "The worlds' only independent
magazine devoted to medals and battles. Published 10 times per year,
the magazine features articles, news, auction reports and the world
renowned Medal Tracker service, invaluable when searching for lost
medals and trying to re-unite broken groups. This service, like the
classified advertising, is free to subscribers. Also included is the
"what's on" section that lets collectors know about fairs, societies,
auctions etc."

At this point, I contacted Michael Hargreave Mawson, the gentleman who
is responsible for the internet site which I mentioned previously
( http://www.hargreave-mawson.demon.co.uk/cwrs2 ) and posed your
question.  (Incidentally, he is the author of "Eyewitness in the
Crimea" which may be of interest to you). His response was "The owners
of such medal groups tend to be reticent about announcing their
ownership.   I do not have the group myself, nor am I aware of the
identity of its present owner.   All I can suggest is that you place
requests for the owner to contact you privately in appropriate
magazines and journals.   Those I would suggest are the journals of
the Crimean
War Research Society, the Orders and Medals Research Society, the
Orders
and Medals Society of America, and the magazine, "Medal News".   I
wouldn't necessarily expect you to receive a response, however, even
if the owner read your advertisement."

At this point, a light went on in my head. Both Mrs. Smurthwaite and
Michael Hargreave Mawson mentioned "Medal News". Apparently, that is
the magazine of the aficionados. That is, as I see it, the primary
place to search for an answer to your question.

Summing up, I believe that you will find the answer to your question
by doing the following:

1. Contact www.tokenpublishing.com and subscribe to Medal News. This
will give you access to Medal Tracker ten times a year and you can
advertise there at no cost.

2. Check out The Orders and Medals Research Society on Google. The
first four entries contain a number of links that may lead you in the
proper direction to an answer.

3. Check out the Orders and Medals Society of America on Google. Among
other things they publish The Journal of the Orders and Medals Society
which is currently published six times per year for the benefit of
members. It contains articles contributed by members on a variety of
medallic subjects, but most important it contains a section called
"Collectors Marketplace." You may be interested in subscribing to it.

Having said the above, I think that you now have several directions in
which to go to find the answer. As I mentioned, it will take some
effort and time on your part but I gather from the enthusiasm that
seems to radiate from the wording of your question, that you are
willing to make the effort. As I noted previously, I did a similar
search about an almost unknown soldier who died in the First World War
and my persistence paid off. The excitement of the search and the joy
of finding the answer (which I hope you do in a short time) does
wonders for your adrenal glands!

I wish you the best of luck and I would appreciate hearing from you
when you hit paydirt.